Device for emptying mixers



Sept. 29, 1942. J. EIRICH ET AL DEVICE FOR EMPTYING MIXERS Filed June 27, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 29, 1942.

J. ElRlCH ET AL 2,297,463

DEVICE FOR EMPTYING MIXERS Filed June'27, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 S'WWW -10 sEPl/ 5791c, 6645 TA v Eur/c If,

Sept. 29, 1942. .1. EIRICH ET AL DEVICE FOR EMPTYING MIXERS Filed June 27, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Qwvowtomo JOSEPH Ell-71C, Gus-r4 v 5191c p 1942- J. EIRICH ET AL DEVICE FOREMPTYING MIXERS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 2'7, 1940 l I l I l II llll lllllrlllllll N WNV Patented Sept. 29, 1942 DEVICE FOR EMPTYING MIXERS Joseph Eirich and Gustav Eirich, Hardheim,

Nordbaden, Germany; vested in the Alien Property Custodian Application June 2'7, 1940, Serial No. 342,826 In Germany January 20, 1937 5 Claims.

The invention relates to an emptying device for edgerunners, mixers and similar apparatus to make them suitable especially for treating or mixing dry, dust-shaped or dust forming masses, such as soot and the like, but also for treating semi-liquid, pasty masses. The invention relates especially to the construction of such apparatus in which the discharge aperture is arranged at the middle of the disc which carries the material to be treated, this disc being stationary or rotatable and the treatment of the material being effected preferably by tools such as grinders, shovels, rakes, scrapers, knives or the like circulating eccentrically to the centre of the mixing disc.

"The mixing tools in such machines move like planets relative to the material on the mixing disc. In machines with stationary mixing disc the axle ,of the tool star is moved along a circular path to produce this movement.

Mixers have become known, in which a carriage is arranged, which carries a step bearing for the guide pin of the closing plate and the driving shaft for raising and lowering the guide pin. For emptying the mixing cup the plate is at first lowered, whereupon the carriage carrying the closing plate is moved sidewards, so that the discharge aperture is liberated and the material can'flow out into a container under the mixer.

A single driving source serves for the different movements of the closing plate, from which driving source a rack is actuated by means of a pinion, a spur wheel, keyed on the driving shaft for the raising and lowering arrangement of the closing plate engaging with said rack, this rack being locked with the carriage when the closing plate is lowered, so that the locked rack shifts in lateral direction the carriagewith the closing plate when the driving source exerts a further effect.

When treating sticky or .hardening mixing material the difiiculty exists, that portions of the material during the discharge of the mixing cup stick in the pinion and/or in the rack and thereby impede moving of these elements. Especially during the lowering of the closing plate the discharged material squirts out in lateral direction and can thus get between the movable elements of the driving device, where it then hardens and settles between the flanges of the teeth. To avoid these difiiculties, the driving shaft for the raising and lowering movement of the closing plate is mounted, according to the invention, in a protecting tube, the shaft being of such length that its driven end is outside the range of the material flowing out from the opened mixing cup and the rack, the driving source, the gear and the locking arrangement are also arranged protected against the material discharged'from the mixing cup. With such a construction the mixing material can no longer get between the moved elements. The material slips off the protecting tube owing to the curved surface of the same. But even if smaller portions oiuthe material should remain on the protecting tube they cannot cause any disturbances. To obtain a further protection of the moved elements, the driving end of the driving shaft for the raising and lowering device can be arranged together with the bearing of the guide pin of the closing plate in a dustand liquidtight casing, which surrounds also the driving element for the guide pin, for instance a crank and a connecting rod.

On the opposite side of the protecting casing a second protecting tu'be may be provided so to say as extension of the first mentioned protecting tube. The two tubes are mounted on the carriage and-serve thus as carriers for the casing with the closing plate. The protecting tube opposite the driving shaft may enclose a lubricant feed pipe for the gear casing.

'The driving source acts for instance upon a pinion meshing with the rack, and a second pinion, meshing with this rack, is mounted ona shaft adapted to "be bolted with the carriage against rotation, said second shaft being connected withthe driving shaft for the raising and lowering movement of the closing plate. The shaft carrying the second'pinion may be equipped with a friction wheel, with the object of bolting the shaft, on which friction wheel a bolting latch acts which in engaging position "brakes the shaft and,--when=the carriage is started, strikes against a stationary abutment, so that the latch is disengaged and the bolting of the shaft suppressed. The abutment maybe adjustable relative to the latch.

The bolting of the rack, shiftable in the slide of the carriage,--with "the carriage may be efiected also in a different planner. The bolting by means of a friction-wheel and of a latch presents the advantage t-hatthe movement of the rack is intercepted softer, but nevertheless in an absolutely reliable manner.

The rack with the two pinions is preferably arranged outside the machine frame, for instance at :the'side -of a-gir-der of the frame for the mixing cup. In this-manner these elements can be very welt-protected against the mixed material.

The driving-shaft for the raising and lowering movement of the closing plate with its protecting tube can be arrangedtransversely to the direction of movement of the carriage, and it can carry at its projecting "end a pinion which directly meshes with the rack. 'An increased protection' against squirting out of material can-be attained in that on-thelongitudinal sides of the carriage two downwardly extending protecting plates are fixed, through one of which plates the crank shaft in the protecting tube extends. For bolting of rack and carriage a resilient locking bolt may be fixed on the carriage and cooperate with a notch on the rack, or a latch which directly engages with the rack.

In one embodiment of the invention the bearing or casing accommodating the guide pin of the closing plate carries a guide ring fitting into the discharge aperture and destined for holding the closing plate in the lowered position.

If according to the invention the rack and the other driving elements are accomodated outside the range of the material flowing out of the opened mixing cup, the possibility exists to provide further protecting devices near the discharge aperture to prevent a squirting out or dusting of the discharging mixed material. With this object in view the closing plate and its direct drive,

for instance the crank casing, can be enclosed by a solid protecting box which by a packing of known type is packed relative to the bottom of the mixing cup and to the elements of the driving device situated on the outer side. The guide pin of the locking plate and the protecting tubes carrying the closing device are preferably packed by compressible and extensible packing rings of leather or similar material, which on the one hand are clamped on the moved machine element a and on the other hand on the stationary machine element. The bearing bush of the guide pin is packed against the locking plate by an elastic packing ring.

The protecting box is fixed in suitable manner on the stationary machine frame. A groove filled with a packing medium, for instance mercury, may be provided on the upper side of the protecting box, an annular flange on the underside of the mixing cup engaging in this groove. To attain an absolute packing against dust and the like, the solid box enclosing the closing device may further be tightly connected with a stationary bunker for receiving the mixed material.

When all the arrangements according to the invention are applied, all movable elements, such as crank, crank shaft, driving wheel mechanism, rack, bearing points and so forth, are absolutely protected against the material flowing out from the opened mixing cup. The closing plate with the direct driving elements moves unhindered in the protecting box, the openings in said box destined for the carrying protecting tubes being specially packed.

Two preferred embodiments of an emptying device according to the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the machine on line 1-1 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the machine at the height II--II of Fig. 1, the mixing plate being omitted,

Fig. 3 is a section on III-III of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 shows the arrangement of the wheel mechanism in a section on line IVIV,

Fig. 5 shows the arrangement of the friction wheel with bolting latch in side elevation,

Fig. 6 shows the middle portion of Fig. 1 with the crank gear viewed from the front,

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of another embodiment with removed mixing plate,

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of Fig. 7.

The whole machine rests on the foundation by means of I-girders 2. The mixing cup 4 is rotatably on rollers 5 in the frame 3. It has on its circumference a toothed rim 6 in which a pinion l engages which is driven from a source of power not shown. Above the mixing cup a shaft 8 is arranged eccentric to the cup, on which shaft the mixing tools are fixed by means of arms. In the form of construction illustrated a roller 9 and a rake-like tool ID are shown by way of example. A centric aperture in the bottom of the mixing cup 4 can be closed by a circular plate 25.

A shaft II is journaled in frame 2 and carries a sprocket wheel H. A pinion I5 keyed on, shaft ii meshes with a rack I4 arranged on the outer side of the I-girders 2. The carriage, which carries the whole emptying device with its driving elements, rests by means of rails 28 on rollers 29 which are mounted on the machine frame 2. A shaft I6 is journaled in a frame 21 parallel to the stationary shaft II. This shaft l6 carries a pinion l3 which meshes in the rack l4 and further a wheel l8 with wedge-shaped groove. A wedge-shaped tooth 2| of a bolting latch l9 fixed also on the carriage frame (Figs. 4 and 5) engages in the groove of the grooved wheel l8. The latch l9 consists of a two-armed lever the bent arm of which is controlled by an abutment 2|] on a bracket 25, the other arm 23 being loaded by a weight, whereas near the pivot point the tooth 2| is fixed which can be brought into engagement with the conical groove of wheel I8. When the tooth 2| is in the groove, the rotation of shaft I5 is prevented, but as soon as the curved end of the lever strikes against abutment 20 (Fig. 5), this being the case when the whole arrangement is in the state of rest, the tooth 2| is lifted out of the conical groove of wheel l8. The abutment 2!! consists for instance of a screw spindle with a counter-nut. Shaft I6 carries further a bevel wheel l2.

The closing plate 26 in the operative position is flush with the surface of the bottom of the mixing cup 4 and fits on its circumference so that it is dustand liquid-tight. It rotates consequently during the operation together with the mixing cup.

The packing is elfected on the periphery by spring rings 30. The carrying pin 3| for the closing plate 26 is fitted in a sleeve 32 adapted to be moved up and down in a stationary sleeve 33 by means of a crank 35 moved by a crank shaft 34 and of a connecting rod 36. The crank shaft 34 which extends to the driving mechanism is surrounded by a tube 31 which surrounds also the bearings 38 (Fig. 1). Through the tube 31 extends further a lubricating tube 39 to the inner bearing 38. The lubricating tube 40 which feeds lubricant to the sleeve 32 and to the pin 3| is in a similar manner enclosed in a tube 4| on the opposite side of the frame.

The crank shaft 34 carries on its free end a bevel wheel I2 meshing with the bevel wheel |2 on shaft l6. Pins 42 (Fig. 1) of crank 35 and connecting rod 36 connect the sleeve 32, adapted to be moved up and down and surrounding the carrying pin 3|, with the closing plate 26. The upward movement of crank 35 can be limited by abutments, such as for instance adjustable screws 43, 64 (Fig. 6). The crank shaft can therefore, owing to the two abutments, carry out more than half a revolution. Pressure rollers 24 are arranged above the rack M for guiding the rack.

The packing of the closing device against liquid, dust and the like is effected at different points.

First the sleeve 32 is secured against penetration of .dust into this hearing sleeve by an elastic packing 45. The sleeve 32 uncovered at its upper portion at the lifting and lowering of the closing plate 26 and which has to be lubricated from the outer side is enclosed and protected against dust by a tightly fitting sleeve 56 of leather, rubber, impregnated canvas or similar material which can be compressed and extends during the movement. The fixing of the leather sleeve 45 may be effected, for instance, by resilient clamping rings 47, one of these rings being fixed on the staticnary sleeve '33 and the other on the movable sleeve 32. When the closing plate 25 descends it slides into a stationary ring 48 fixed on the stationary sleeve 33 by means of arms 58 in order that the resilient spring rings 38 do not lose the guiding.

The tube 3'? extends through the Wall of the box 59. The packing at the point at which tube 37 extends through the wall of the box is effected by a leather sleeve 46 held by clamping rings ll. The packing leather sleeves, which at the reciprocating movement of the carriage and of the movable elements in general are drawn along, are turned inside out and thus cleaned automatically. No dust or liquid can therefore flow out at the corresponding points. The packing on the point at which the tube ll extends through the wall is also effected by a compressible and extensible leather sleeve 15 with clamping rings 4?.

The box 50 is packed against the rotating mixing cup d by a packing groove in the box lid this groove being formed by two rings 52 and of angular cross-section. A ring 5 3 on the underside of the disc body engages in this groove, which, for packing, is filled with a yieldable substance, and prevents thus dust or liquid from passing in outward direction. The solid box 59 enclosing the closing arrangement may be connected tightly packed with a bunker destined to hold the finished material.

If the mixing cup has to be emptied the proceeding is as follows:

The driving wheel I? on shaft I l, which may be, a sprocket wheel, is at first adjusted to left hand rotation. The rack 54 is thereby shifted to the left and shaft 56 rotated by pinion i3 (see Figs. 2 and 4) The bevel wheels l2, l2 rotate the crank shaft and the crank 35 and effect thus, through the intermediary of the connecting rod 35, the vertical descending movement of the closing plate 25 by the sleeve 82 with the carrying pin 3 I. This movement is limited in that the crank 35 strikes against the lower abutment screw 44 when the closing plate 26 has descended. The closing plate sits then in the holder ring 48 and is flush with the lower edge of the bottom 4. When the rotation of wheel il continues, the horizontal movement of the carriage 2! and thereby the running out of the closing plate 26 begins, until the discharge aperture in the disc bottom is absolutely free. At the moment at which the sideward movement of the carriage 21 begins the bent arm of latch it moves away from the abutment 20 (Fig. 5). Owing to the counterweight 23, the lever and its conical tooth 2| engage into the groove 58, and shaft I6 is locked against rotation and is then at the same time in the driving position for the right hand movement of the carriage which afterthe emptying of the cup is started automatically or by the actuation of a hand lever if the discharging aperture is to be closed.

At the adjusting of the sprocket wheel IT to right hand rotation, the rack M with carriage and discharge closure are shifted by pinion l5 so far to the right, that the downwardly bent arm of latch i9 strikes against the adjustable abutment screw 23 mounted on a bracket 25 on transverse girders and comes thus out of engagement with wheel I8. The shaft I6 begins therefore to revolve and the vertical upward movement of plate 26 into the emptying device takes place.

In the form of construction shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the driving shaft for the lifting and lowering movement of the closing plate 26 is directly transversely to the direction of movement of the carriage in the protecting tube 55 under the girders 2 and has on its outer end the pinion l3 meshing with rack Hi. In the selected form of construction the discharging device is actuated by hand. The hand crank 56 mounted on the machine frame carries a spur wheel 5! which drives the pinion it: through the intermediary of a transmission 58.

For reversing from the lifting and lowering movement to the shiftin movement the spring controlled bolt 59 on the carriage is provided and engages with a projection directly into the teeth of the rack when the closing plate is run out. At the running-in the latch 55% strikes with a short lever arm against an adjustable abutment 60, whereby the projection is disengaged and the move-ment of the rack relative to the carriage is liberated, so that, at further rotation of the hand crank 56, the pinion it rotates the crank shaft in tube '55 and thereby lifts the closing plate 25.

At either side of the closing plate and under the same two projecting plate 65 and 62 are fixed on the carriage and project under the girders 2 and thus prevent squirting out of the material discharged from the mixing cup. Traverses 63 serve for stiffening the protecting plates. On the girder 2 an angle iron 54 is arranged above rack it, the outwardly projecting flange of this angle iron protecting the rack against dirt.

We claim:

1. An emptying mechanism for mixing machines having a mixing cup having a circular bottom and a central discharge aperture in said bottom, comprising a horizontally movable carriage, a closing plate for said discharge aperture mounted on said carriage, means for lifting and lowering the closing plate, a shaft for actuating said lifting and lowering means, means to reciprocate the carriage and to actuate said shaft before and after reciprocating the carriage, said last means including a rack, pinion means meshing with the rack for operating the rack, a shaft adapted to be bolted with the carriage, a second pinion means meshing with the rack on said boltable shaft and a gear connecting said boltable shaft with the shaft actuating the lifting and lowering means, a dustand liquid-tight casing accommodating the lifting and lowering means, the shaft for operating the lifting and lowering means being located parallel to the direction of the reciprocating of the carriage, and a protecting tube for the shaft actuating the lifting and lowering means, the shaft being of sufficient length that the end thereof actuated by the reciprocating and actuating means as well as said last means are outside the range of the material discharged from the discharge aperture.

2. An emptying -mechanism for mixing machines having a mixing cup having a circular bottom and a central discharge aperture in said bottom, comprising a horizontally movable carriage, a closing plate for said discharge aperture with the rack for operating the rack, a shaft adapted to be bolted with the carriage, second pinion means meshing with the rack on said boltable shaft, a gear connecting said boltable shaft with the shaft actuating the lifting and lowering means, a friction wheel on said boltable shaft, a latch actuated by said friction wheel and adapted to break said boltable shaft, and an abutment against which the latch strikes to un bolt the boltable shaft when the closing plate is in position to be lifted and lowered to close and open the discharge aperture, a dustand liquidtight casing accommodating the lifting and lowering means, the shaft for operating the lifting and lowering means being located parallel to the direction of the reciprocation of the carriage, and a protecting tube for the shaft actuatin the lifting and lowering means, the shaft being of sufficient length that the end thereof actuated by the reciprocating and actuating means as well as said last means are outside the range of the material discharged from the discharge aperture.

3. An emptying mechanism for mixing machines having a mixing cup having a circular bottom and a central discharge aperture in said bottom, comprising a horizontally movable carriage, a closing plate for said discharge aperture mounted on said carriage, means for lifting and lowering the closing plate, a shaft for actuating said lifting and lowering means, means to reciprocate the carriage and to actuate said shaft before and after reciprocating the carriage, said last means including a rack, pinion means meshing with the rack for operating the rack, a shaft adapted to be bolted with the carriage, a second pinion means meshing with the rack on said boltable shaft and a gear connecting said boltable shaft with the shaft actuating the lifting and lowering means, a dustand liquid-tight casing accommodating the lifting and lowering means, the shaft for operating the lifting and lowering means being located parallel to the direction of the reciprocation of the carriage, a protecting tube for the shaft actuating the lifting and lowering means, the shaft being of sufficient length that the end thereof actuated by the reciprocating and actuating means as well as said last means are outside the range of the material discharged from the discharge aperture, and a stationary ch'ute arranged below the bottom of the mixing cup to receive the material discharged through the discharge aperture, said chute surrounding the closing plate and the casriage, a closing plate for said discharge aperture mounted on said carriage, means for lifting and lowering the closing plate, a shaft for actuating said lifting and lowering means, means to reciprocate the carriage and to actuate said shaft before and after reciprocating the carriage, said last means including a rack, pinion means meshing with the rack for operating the rack, a shaft adapted to be bolted with the carriage, a second pinion means meshing with the rack on said boltable shaft and a gear connecting said boltable shaft with the shaft actuating the lifting and lowering means, a dustand liquid-tight casing accommodating the lifting and lowering means, the shaft for operating the lifting and lowering means being located parallel to the direction of the reciprocation of the carriage, at protecting tube for the shaft actuating the lifting and lowering means, the shaft being of sufiicient length that the end thereof actuated by the reciprocating and actuating means as well as said last means are outside the range of the material discharged from the discharge aperture, a stationary chute arranged below the bottom of the mixing cup to receive the material discharged through the discharge aperture, said chute surrounding the closing plate and the casing accommodating the lifting and lowering means, said chute having an aperture permitting the egress of the shaft actuating the lifting and lowering means and its protecting tube, an expansible packing between the tube and the chute,

' said chute having a groove filled with a packing means upon its upper end, and an annular flange on the bottom of the mixing cup engaging in said groove.

5. An emptying mechanism for mixing machines having a mixing cup having a circular bottom and a central discharge aperture in said bottom, comprising a horizontally movable carriage, a closing plate for said discharge aperture mounted on said carriage, means for lifting and lowering the closing plate, a shaft for actuating said lifting and lowering means, means to reciprocate the carriage and to actuate said shaft before and after reciprocating the carriage, said last means including a rack, pinion means mesh ing with the rack for operating the rack, a shaft adapted to be bolted with the carriage, a second pinion means meshing with the rack on said boltable shaft and a gear connecting said boltable shaft with the shaft actuating the lifting and lowering means, a dustand liquid-tight casing accommodating the lifting and lowering means, the shaft for operating the lifting and lowering means being located parallel to the direction of the reciprocation of the carriage, a protecting tube for the shaft actuating the lifting and lowering means, the shaft being of sufficient length that the end thereof actuated by the reciprocating and actuating means as well as said last means are outside the range of the material discharged from the discharge aperture, a stationary chute arranged below the bottom of the mixing cup to receive the material discharged through the discharge aperture, said chute surrounding the closing plate and the casing accommodating the lifting and lowering means, said chute having an aperture permitting the egress of the shaft actuating the lifting and lowering means and its protecting tube, an expansible packing between the tube and the chute, said chute having a groove filled with a packing means upon its upper .end, an annular flange on the bottom of the mixing cup engaging in said groove, and a stationary bunker for receiving the material discharged through the chute tightly packed relative to said chute.

JOSEPH EIRICH. GUSTAV EIRICH. 

